Cooking Without Onions? A TV Show Teaches You How

Cooking shows are a staple on Indian television, from afternoon lessons for amateur cooks to edgy primetime cook-offs. Now, a new show is aiming to carve out a niche by focusing on a topical kitchen conundrum: how to cook without the lynchpin ingredient, the onion.

On a recent episode of Kifayati Kitchen, chef Pankaj Bhadouria tosses okra into a frying pan. Then, using a light hand, she sprinkles the secret ingredient: asafetida. The pungent spice, which is popularly used as a digestive in south Asia, mimics the flavor of sautéed onion and garlic when heated in oil.

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“The challenge is knowing what to substitute for what,” Ms. Bhadouria, who won the first season of MasterChef India, says.

Prices for onions, ubiquitous with Indian cooking, have more than quadrupled this year. In October, for instance, onion prices touched a high of 100 rupees or $1.6 a kilogram. In the same month last year, the price stood at 20 rupees or 32 cents a kilogram.

Soaring food prices left many Indian homemakers with a bitter taste.

“You have no idea what this does to my monthly shopping,” Shibani Kashyap, a 42-year-old homemaker in New Delhi, said. “It is such a struggle sometimes to put a delicious meal on the table.” Ms. Kashyap has spent the last few weeks procuring onions from far flung government-run “fair-price” or wholesale shops, which sell at a relatively cheaper rate than local vendors.

Amit Nair, who heads business on Zee Khana Khazana, the channel where Kifayati Kitchen is broadcast, says the show was inspired by skyrocketing food prices in India. Creators, he said, wanted to offer a solution to a subject that has dominated national news in recent weeks.

“We have seen this economic scenario stay with us… We are looking at ways of addressing that because balancing the kitchen budget is a struggle,” Mr. Nair said.

The show, which airs three days a week, caters to the palate of the modern-day Indian household. Dishes range from popular classics such as “Chicken Kali Mirch,” or chicken seasoned with black pepper, to yam and lentil cutlets, a continental starter. All recipes are tailored to work without onions and tomatoes.

It’s too early to tell how popular the show is, creators say, but interest is rising. “I like the idea,” Ms. Kashyap, who subscribes to Khana Khazana, the cable channel, but yet to watch the show, says.

Substitution is a dying art, Ms. Bhadouria, the chef and host, says, one she hopes to revive through her cook show. “There are forgotten recipes.”

“How to use seasonal vegetables, what to cook with during economic hardship, variations on a recipe, all these exist in our culture,” she adds. You only need to remind viewers.

Suryatapa Bhattacharya is a Delhi-based journalist and former foreign correspondent with The National in Abu Dhabi. Before that, she worked for The Toronto Star. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times blog, India Ink, Foreign Policy and The Globe and Mail.

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